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09 December 2012

Microsoft : 100 innovation centers in India

CHENNAI: IT giant Microsoft has planned to establish 100 Microsoft Innovation Centres in the country over the next two years.

The innovation centres will act as "innovation hubs" at select colleges
and technology institutes, providing incubation and expert hands-on
support on Microsoft technology, research and software solutions, to
create student technology experts, a company statement said.

As
a first step, the company has signed MoU with academic institutes
across four states to set up 75 such innovation centres. Microsoft aims
to launch 100 Innovation Centres in the country over the next two years,
it said.

The innovation centres will cover five lakh students
country-wide, it said, adding about one lakh students will be certified
on Microsoft technologies.

"The programme will also drive innovation and help build a
product-based software economy by supporting product development and
over 500 start-ups", it said.

The Innovation Centres would
operate on a hub-and-spoke model. The first 14 innovation centres
proposed to be set up are in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Rajahmundry,
Khammam, Bapatla, Guntur and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, Raipur in
Chhattisgarh, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Tiruchirappalli, Vellore, Coimbatore, Madurai and Salem in Tamil Nadu.

"The Microsoft Innovation Centres are designed to offer a unique
environment conducive for student entrepreneurship. The Microsoft
Innovation Centres can play a vital role in generating powerful new
ideas through training, education and knowledge transfer", Microsoft India, General Manager (DPE), Joseph Landes said.

The announcement by Microsoft comes after the India launch of company's
new initiative, YouthSpark, aimed at addressing the opportunity divide
faced by the young people of the world, the statement added.